Amid COVID-19’s chaos, it’s easy to feel sad about the status of the world. It can be difficult to perceive the silver lining when social distancing tactics, self-quarantines, and a general sense of insecurity are in place. Although there is reason to believe that our changing lifestyles will aid in the slowing of the virus’s spread, it will still necessitate a significant amount of effort from enterprises worldwide. Laundry, as usual, is on the front lines.
These developments’ abruptness has exposed some flaws in how some businesses sell themselves, especially laundry services. How unprepared many are to engage their communities at this moment. We never expected we’d end up here, but that’s no reason to act as if everything is normal, especially regarding marketing.
Be Selfless
It’s not about you in the COVID-19 disaster. It’s about how we move forward as neighbors, communities, families, and individuals in the face of a common enemy. Self-promotion is difficult enough, to begin with, but it will almost certainly irritate people during a tragedy. Focusing solely on advertising your business during a time like this comes across as false, disingenuous, and self-serving at the expense of suffering people. If you do nothing else right now, reduce your self-promotion and focus instead on how you can help others.
Good Tone
Right now, a bad tone is being exacerbated. In instances like this, the risk of self-serving tone, dismissiveness, or lack of empathy is at an all-time high for various reasons. In the last few weeks, a slew of videos, tweets, and images have surfaced that call into question the integrity of businesses, celebrities, and entrepreneurs– and whether you agree or disagree with these incidents, you can rest assured that your customers will pay attention to what you say.
Businesses– and the people who run them– that can demonstrate empathy and leadership during difficult times are well-liked by their customers. Achieving the correct mix can earn you customers for life and even generations.
Think Long Term
It’s all too tempting to focus on the short term right now, especially given the COVID-19 virus’s unpredictability. Many of us are forced to focus on today – and maybe tomorrow – but not on our long-term goals due to social isolation, fear of spreading the virus, and a market headed for a recession. We’ve all seen fewer consumers due to safety concerns, which has a negative influence on revenue and our sense of well-being. Continue to work on your business and marketing objectives.
Continue to create stuff. You can run commercials, invest in your community, offer new services like laundry delivery, and develop new ways to connect with people. Not after, but during the period of uncertainty is the best time to invest in your marketing.
Do everything you can to flatten the curve and alleviate your community’s pain, and you’ll discover that it’s a better long-term marketing investment than you could have thought.
During a disaster, it’s important to contribute and then give some more. It’s not about selling some additional loads of laundry; it’s about coming together and creating a legacy. If our ultimate objective is to help others, now is the ideal time to unite in that effort. Even if we can’t all be in the same room simultaneously, we can all try to support those around us.
